Ronaldo vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: A battle of soccer stars

Two players, one name, but who is best? Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo might share the same name, but we thought we’d sit down and calculate which one is the king. Calculate? Yes, we are comparing hard facts here, let’s see who will emerge victorious from a battle of numbers.

On the one hand, Ronaldo’s professional soccer career spanned 18 years and during that time he played for a variety of clubs, including the mighty Real Madrid. As well as playing upfront for some of the top clubs in the world, Ronaldo also represented his country, Brazil, 98 times and collected two World Cup winner medals for his contributions to its team.

In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese pro who has been active since 2002 and still is. Joining Sporting CP as a teenager, Cristiano Ronaldo then went on to play for Manchester United before following in the footsteps of his namesake and joining Real Madrid. To date, Cristiano Ronaldo has played more than 500 games for club and country and many regard him as the greatest player of his generation.

With both players having extremely impressive careers, we think it’s about time to look at which Ronaldo is best. Looking through their careers on the pitch as well as their exploits away from it, we’ve put the two players together in a head-to-head battle to see which one comes out on top.

Soccer Skills

Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are both attacking players, so it makes sense to compare their goal scoring ratios to get an idea of which one is the superior soccer player. Of course, we have to accept that Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing and that means his stats will change. In other words, even if the Portuguese ends up second, he has time to turn the game around.

When it comes to time on the pitch, Ronaldo made 343 club appearances during his career and banged in 247 goals in that time. In comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo has currently played 219 matches and scored 239 goals.

As you can see, the retired Brazilian currently has the upper hand when it comes to goals scored. However, with at least three more years left in the game, it’s highly likely Cristiano Ronaldo will surpass his namesake by the end of his career. In fact, he continues to break records every season, so it’s a safe bet he’ll continue to find the back of the net for a few more years to come.